Baggas' Blog

• is down at the Christmas carols at the foreshore #
• is visiting my local noodle joint – they seem to be struggling so I make a point of coming here every week – Kwai Teow noodles today #
• finds that emails with instructions in bold red text just make want to do the opposite #
• is trying hard to be a wall and not take on other people's responsibilities #
• thinks all songs can be made to sound like U2 without trying too hard (especially if they are D A Bm G…) #
• is having dinner at Han's Cafe #
• after a quick practice of some Christmas songs for tomorrow, now heading out to see Avatar #
• enjoyed the playing in the Christmas service at church, now to get the kids into bed before a relaxing evening waiting for Santa… #
• Boxing day : a day for watching the cricket, playing Xbox and Wii (boxing of course, and cricket), swimming and just generally chillaxing #
• is driving to Toodyay today to visit Jen's dad #

Here I am on Christmas Eve at work seeing a double load of patients since most of the other doctors have already abandoned us, but only a few short hours to go before a 4 day break.

Just thought I’d take this opportunity to wish anyone who reads this a Happy and Blessed Christmas, wherever in the world you may be!

As I’ll be here in Australia, I thought it was appropriate to share this little effort from Rolf Harris – Christmas in the Sun, perhaps his best Christmas song since the classic “Six White Boomers” (not that that’s saying very much…) As I’ve said before Christmas is the one time of year it’s okay to listen to otherwise forbidden music, so I hope you can excuse the cheesiness of this… on a tangential issue, it’s been interesting following the story of the UK Christmas #1 single. Not sure where Rolf came, but I was kind pleased to see the X Factor contestant beaten by Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing in the Name Of” (cool song, but don’t think I’ll post the video here as this is generally a PG rated blog) – can still remember my year 12 maths teacher raving about that song in high school. Funny how a grass roots internet campaign can drive such an old, aggressive (and quite rude) song to the top of the chart…

Anyway, I digress – here’s Rolf Harris :

And if you survived that, check out Rolf’s version of Stairway to Heaven – can’t get much more cheesy than this!

Check out this very clever video…

Discovered this on the blog of Robin Parry, a UK based Christian author and publisher. His blog looks like an interesting one. I’ll be keeping an eye on it from now on.

• just finished my first fully booked day in a month – now off to a pool party! #
• Eerie conditions outside today – thick haze and fine white ash falling like snow – closest thing we'll ever get to a "white Christmas" #
• Reminder to self : flee from right wing American fundamentalist, Calvinist, anti-Obama blogs – it's like Fox News on steroids #
• is back from a quick dash around the shops – got everything I needed to get and hopefully that is that. #
• Got my first Christmas gift at work for the year… was beginning to get worried I might have to buy wine for myself this year lol #
• had a funeral and a dentist visit this morning, and work has been gloomy so far this afternoon – hope the rest of the day gets better! #
• Nothing beats swimming in the rain #

Ob1 posted a link to this video on his blog, and I agree it is a scary thing to watch…

Similar thing in yesterday’s local paper here in Rockingham… they have photos about a bunch of people they asked what they thought about Rudd’s proposed ETS – almost all didn’t have a clue, and another said she thought it would be good for “jobs and young people”

Personally if I was so ignorant about an issue I wouldn’t want my photo in the paper proclaiming my lack of knowledge.. I wonder what the paper’s editors are getting at here (because they do this every week – people showing how little they know on various issues) – are they purposely trying to demonstrate how ill-informed and indifferent our community is? Because if they are, I don’t think the message is getting through… The difference between the Palin video and Australia is that these people in the video are passionate about their ignorant opinions, whereas ignorant Aussies could care less… both are a bad thing, but I think the Palin fans are more scary…

It’s been a week now since I sent my iPhone off to get repaired – a very long, tough, sad week..

Who knew that losing my iPhone could be this painful. I’ve not only lost my phone, but I’ve also lost my :

• diary
• address book
• shopping list
• Bible
• personal DJ
• TV guide
• weatherman
• guitar tuner
• remote control
• connection to the outside world (through FB, Twitter, email – it’s very hard not being able to instantly update from anywhere and everywhere (ie “walking down the road. stubbed my toe on a rock. ouch! here’s a picture of that stupid rock..”) I’m sure you’re missing those updates as much as me
• camera for taking pictures of stupid rocks etc
• movie guide
• gaming console

The girl said it can take up to 6 weeks to get my phone back but that she would try and “expedite” it for me. Just wish I’d heard something by now, to let me know how it’s all going… I miss my iPhone!

Just finished reading Super Freakonomics, which is a quick enjoyable book to read over the summer. Now contrary to what you might be thinking, it’s not an expose on the economic fortunes of Super Freak Rick James – actually it’s a book written by an economist and a journalist as a sequel to their previous great book Freakonomics.

There’s plenty of interesting stats in there. Some of the highlights include :

• why drunk walking may be more dangerous than drunk driving
• that child safety or booster seats for children over 2 offer no safety benefit over just wearing seatbelts alone
• a cheap and relatively easy answer to the problem of global warming by specifically targeted additional pollution (with Sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere) – now why aren’t they discussing that at Copenhagen? A few hundred million and problem solved – maybe.

Other interesting analyses include the statistical profiling of terrorists, and the economics of prostitution in Chicago. Definitely a great book to read, or give as a gift this Christmas – or try the original Freakonomics book if you haven’t read it. Or if you don’t want to buy a book, just check out the Freakonomics blog for more on these, and other interesting issues.

Finally, for your listening (not viewing) pleasure, here’s the Super Freak (as a child of the 80s/90s I can’t help thinking of MC Hammer…)

Always love seeing these sort of stories, about how coffee is good for you..
and this one’s been reported in a number of studies, so it might actually be true!

Drinking coffee (and tea) significantly lowers your risk of developing Type II diabetes. No one knows why, but it does.
So now I can say drinking coffee is an important part of my daily health regimen

Check out the story here : Coffee, tea cuts diabetes risk

Super hot day here today – 39 degrees (thats 102F). So hot in church that the best place to be was the baptism pool. Certainly on stage under the lights was a bit unpleasant – and I blame the heat for the number of mistakes I made – of which the worst was definitely when I mangled the lyric of ‘Salvation is here’ to sing “I don’t care that the world will know your name.” Not sure if anyone else noticed but I apologise – I’m definitely not so indifferent that I would sing about it.

Anyway, before I got jump in the pool it’s time for another pedal board update. Non guitarists can tune out now… I’ve made a couple of alterations – adding in an EQ pedal so I can shape or boost my tone when necessary. The other is the addition of the Digitech Jam-man looper, with another Boss volume pedal to control the volume. I currently have this running completely separate to the rest of my chain, with an output going into the direct line-in on the amp. The reason I’m running this separate loop is because I’m using some of Karl’s ambient guitar pads (see here for more info) to provide backing for some of the songs. They sound awesome and free the keyboard player to do some different stuff. We’ve had some nice ambient jams through communion.

So there it is. Click on the photo for a bigger version. I’d write more but this laptop is starting to burn a hole in my lap… (did I mention it’s crazy hot here today?) Cheers.

Super hot day here today – 39 degrees (thats 102F). So hot in church that the best place to be was the baptism pool. Certainly on stage under the lights was a bit unpleasant – and I blame the heat for the number of mistakes I made – of which the worst was definitely when I mangled the lyric of ‘Salvation is here’ to sing “I don’t care that the world will know your name.” Not sure if anyone else noticed but I apologise – I’m definitely not so indifferent that I would sing about it.

Anyway, before I got jump in the pool it’s time for another pedal board update. Non guitarists can tune out now… I’ve made a couple of alterations – adding in an EQ pedal so I can shape or boost my tone when necessary. The other is the addition of the Digitech Jam-man looper, with another Boss volume pedal to control the volume. I currently have this running completely separate to the rest of my chain, with an output going into the direct line-in on the amp. The reason I’m running this separate loop is because I’m using some of Karl’s ambient guitar pads (see here for more info) to provide backing for some of the songs. They sound awesome and free the keyboard player to do some different stuff. We’ve had some nice ambient jams through communion.

So there it is. Click on the photo for a bigger version. I’d write more but this laptop is starting to burn a hole in my lap… (did I mention it’s crazy hot here today?) Cheers.

• had an excellent time at Colin & Ann's party – nice finish to a good weekend #
• just found myself wishing someone a "reasonable Christmas"… probably won't use that form of greeting again #
• came home to a plumbing emergency -now I want to move house! #
• Looks like we have a burst water pipe somewhere underneath the house – is going to be a big, expensive job to fix #
• tried to make up for my plumbing pain by booking a holiday in for next month.. it helped a tiny bit #
• is having a bad week – now my iPhone is totally dead #
• sent my iPhone to get fixed and invented a new diagnosis of "iPhone Bereavement" – very difficult condition to manage… #
• finished work for the week – looking forward to catching the train and hanging out in the city with the boys and Jenni this evening #
• Had a great night in Perth with the boys.. bumped into Santa and his special helpers… #

Just thinking this morning about how I love the feel of this time of year – the anticipation of Christmas, the warm weather, days at the beach or dips in the pool, picnics in the evening, even the busyness of the shops and everyone racing around can be cool if you just sit back and take it in and not get swept up in the stress of it all. I like the decorations of shops, houses, the city, even cars now sporting reindeer antlers! But most of all I like the music – a strange mixture of old-time crooners, archaic hymns, and other cheesey songs that any other time of the year I wouldn’t be caught dead listening to. But at this time of year I love it – dragging out my collection of Christmas MP3s and playing them any opportunity I get. And I like the fact that you can walk around the shops and hear songs about Jesus, even if no-one seems to be paying any attention to it.

It goes without saying that Bing, Frank, Dean, Nat, and Elvis are essentials. I also love country styled Christmas music (I’m a big Brad Paisley fan and his Christmas album is tops!) And old style rock Christmas – Beach Boys, Jackson 5 of course! Not forgetting all the big pop music Christmas hits – John Lennon, David Bowie, Band Aid (which features one of the stupidest lyrics in history “there won’t be snow in Africa this Christmas time” – like that’s the reason we should feel sorry for them? Hello! Most of the world won’t have snow for Christmas. If we ever have snow here I’ll be seriously worried about climate change!)

The other day I was trying to explain to my kids how this is the only time of the year where it’s okay to enjoy Neil Diamond (the rest of the year he is verboten) – and the same goes for David Hasselhoff (his Christmas album is one of my many guilty pleasures). I’m afraid I can’t stretch that rule to include Streisand – her music is still taboo all the year round.

I won’t delve into the massive topic of Christmas novelty albums other than to mention Christmas in the Stars – the Star Wars Christmas album from 1980. I can only force myself to listen to this once each festive season it is so awful. It mostly features C3PO, Chewie, and R2D2 but on one of the songs you can hear a young Jon Bongiovi in his first recorded appearance. It’s bad, although not quite as horrible as the Star Wars Holiday Special TV show (which words cannot describe just how execrable it is).

Anyone else have any suggestions of Christmas music – good, bad or otherwise??

Finally, while we’re on the topic of Christmas, here’s a cool video we had in church yesterday – SC vs JC

• is dejectedly looking at my over half empty appointment screen for the day #
• has come home to a house without internet… it's like living in the last century… #
• is at the school presentation night – looks like it's going to be a long one… #
• enjoyed my nephew Dylan's class item #mccnight #
• would be pretty annoyed if they wouldn't let me off I'd #
• would be pretty annoyed if they would fine me for being 5c short for a toll booth #mccnight #
• now the one we've all been waiting for 2/3c #mccnight #
• Not sure if ending the night on a minor key is the best idea #mccnight #
• today's score 31/46 #
• I used #Shazam to discover Mad World by Michael Andrews Feat. Gary Jules http://www.shazam.com/music/web/track?id=20149393 #
• #MotionX Share: Oh well if there's no work at least it's a nice day to be outside…. http://bit.ly/4BWUhL #
• I used #Shazam to discover Get-Well-Cards by Conor Oberst http://www.shazam.com/music/web/track?id=46306812 #
• is at the pub having lunch during yet another slow day… #
• was very happy that Jenni and Owen were able to come and hang out with me at the pub #
• is going over to Rottnest Island today with Owen's school class #
• is looking forward to a Hot weekend #
• is at the beach having breakfast and then going for a swim before it gets too hot #
• enjoyed a nice swim at the beach, now watching cricket – gotta live summer! #
• is out for dinner and a movie with friends #

Ok if you like the Muppets and/or you like classic rock (a la Queen), and you’re not one of the 8 million or more people who have already seen it, then check out this video.. very funny

So it seems that the days of the ubiquitous drug company pens, paper, and post-it notes are coming to an end.

It surely is a sad time for doctors throughout Australia, except of course for those losers who brought this fate upon us – the pedantic, paternalistic, killjoy #!#@ (insert your own expletive here) who feel that doctors are so naieve and easily corruptible that we need heavy handed protection agaist the wiles of the evil pharmaceutical companies. Why is it that other industries (including pharmacy) don’t need this sort of protection? Why are we poor doctors so bad that we need to be singled out?

I still deny that these pens etc make any difference in my prescribing – I will pick which drug I think is the best for my patient and with which I am familiar with. I do believe that drug company visits are a most valuable thing though, as there is no way I have the time to keep up with all the different new medicines that are being released. Maybe those aforementioned loser doctors have nothing better to do than read medical journals in every spare moment of their free time, but unlike them I actually have a life that does not involve medicine! As I’ve often said being a doctor is what I do, it does not define who I am…. so the drug rep visits do provide me with a valuable educational service (and yes I listen to them with a skeptical ear, not blindly trusting everything they say!). And even the pens etc are useful, and not just for writing (they are actually pretty useless at that – the average one lasts less than a week I think) – I find the “brand reminders” helpful. Recently I wanted to prescribe a new diabetes drug but couldn’t recall the name of it … if I had a Januvia pen handy it would have been less of a problem (half kidding)

So as I write this post and pull a Caduet™ pen out of my Rulide™300mg container and drink my coffee from my Karvea™ mug off my Alevsco™ USB cup warmer while saving guitar pad files onto my Somac™ 2 Gig USB thumb drive and scribble a note on a Vytorin™ post-it, I sadly look back at better days….

Wonder what kind of lunch the drug rep will bring today??     (alas even the food quality seems to be deteriorating lately)

PS – none of those drugs I listed above are ones I prescribe very regularly at all. Most times I use alternate brands, despite the fact that I have these brands in view of me and have no products advertising the other ones visible… guess I’m not that much of a sucker after all

Discovered an interesting new blog site today on the topic of science and religion – Science and the Sacred from the BioLogos Foundation. It features a number of well-respected authors in this field and the general gist is to attempt to reconcile the findings of science (particularly biological) with the disciplines of theology and biblical studies to construct a more integrated worldview on issues of creation and science. Too often this discussion is polarized and driven by extremists like the militant atheist Richard Dawkins on one side and fundamentalist whackos like Ken Ham on the other side. Belief in God and belief in science don’t need to be mutually exclusive. This is a site I will be following with interest…